LIVE BLOG: Kentucky vs. Eastern Michigan

FINAL: Kentucky 48, Eastern Michigan 23

Jason Patterson added one more big run before this game ended. The Cats handled their business despite some rough moments for the defense in Cutter Boley’s second start.

Eastern Michigan kicks down that backdoor

Well, that drive meant something to a lot of people. Playing against Kentucky’s backups, EMU’s starting offense goes 75 yards in 12 plays needing a Noah Kim scramble on fourth-and-goal at the five to end the drive with a touchdown. It looks like the best road underdog in college football is going to cover.

Kentucky 48, Eastern Michigan 23 | 0:58 left

Kentucky ends another drive in the paint

The drive got extended by a defensive holding flag but Kentucky made Eastern Michigan pay for the mistake. Jason Patterson rushed for 31 yards on seven carries and finished the drive in the endzone for his first career touchdown. The Cats are currently covering with 4:46 left in the fourth quarter.

Kentucky 48, Eastern Michigan 16

Kentucky’s improved second continues on defense

Eastern Michigan threatened again with a couple of big completions for Noah Kim but the drive bogged down just inside Kentucky’s 40. The series ends with a missed 55-yard field goal. EMU has gone three-and-out, turnover on downs, turnover on downs, and missed field goal in the second half.

A Weird End to a Scoring Drive

Kentucky was moving and grooving, thanks to a dart Boley delivered to Ja’Mori Maclin to start the drive. The Cats’ drive stalled when the quarter ended and the ball was inside the 5-yard line.

Boley fumbled a snap under center, and multiple flags were thrown for jumping onto the pile and pulling people off of it. The Cats had an easy passing touchdown set up, but the official blew the play dead. He never gave them a signal to let them start. That put them back under center to run the ball, and that snap wasn’t clean either. The slow start forced the Cats to send Kauwe out for a chip shot field goal.

Kentucky leads 41-16 with 13:16 to play.

Third Quarter Stats

Kentucky is five yards away from adding to its 38-16 lead.

Kentucky Scores (Twice)

Kendrick Law got into the end zone for his Kentucky touchdown, but the 27-yard gain was taken away by a Hardley Gilmore holding penalty inside the 5-yard line. That let Seth McGowan get another crack at it.

He scored his third touchdown of the night and surpassed 100 yards on the ground with the 8-yard run.

Consecutive 3-and-Outs for EMU

The Kentucky defense probably got an earful from Mark Stoops and Brad White at halftime. It appears that the players received the message. The Cats forced a pair of three-and-outs on the first two drives, giving the offense another chance to put the foot on the gas pedal.

Eastern Michigan gave the Cats a short field by trying a fake punt. It was snuffed out instantly. Kentucky will get the ball 27 yards away from the end zone.

BANK SHOT!

Jacob Kauwe stayed perfect, even if it meant banking it off the left upright.

Kentucky’s drive stalled when Fred Farrier dropped a short third-down pass. Stoops sent out the redshirt freshman to kick a career-long 51-yarder. It looked like he pulled out his 7-iron. It was smooth and had enough distance to be good from 60+, but it stayed straight. The ball doinked off the left upright and went in, giving Kentucky a 31-16 advantage.

Injury Update

This explains why we’ve seen Thomas get torched a couple of times.

Two great Cutter Boley pictures

Through one half, Kentucky’s offense looks great, but the defense is struggling. Just like we all predicted, right? Here are two great pictures of Cutter Boley as a kid at Kroger Field from the broadcast to improve your halftime mood. The Hodgenville native is 7-13 for 123 yards and two touchdowns so far.

Kentucky Gives Up ANOTHER Field Goal Before Half

Kendrick Law nearly created an explosive play by showing out on special teams. The gunner for the punt team made an enormous collision with the return man to force a fumble. It looked like he got there after the return man caught it, but officials threw a flag.

That gave EMU another opportunity to create explosive plays through the air. The Eagles are up to four pass plays of 20+ yards and nearly 300 yards of total offense in the first half. They made a 50-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half to make it 28-16 at intermission.

Kentucky’s 2-Minute Defense Gives Up a Long TD

The Kentucky defense is playing a lot of players tonight. One of those reserves is having a rough outing.

Maryland transfer Kevis Thomas got burned on the previous drive and had to commit a pass interference penalty to prevent a score. This time, he didn’t have enough to pick up a TD-saving flag. EMU got him with the double-move for an easy pitch-and-catch 64-yard touchdown to Terry Lockett.

It’s 28-13 and Cutter Boley is getting the ball back with 96 seconds on the clock and two timeouts.

Another Tight End Touchdown

Cutter Boley definitely grew up a Kentucky fan. After begging for the Cats to throw it to the tight ends for years, Boley has taken matters into his own hands.

For the second time tonight, he threw a touchdown to a wide open tight end on a throwback pass near the goal line. Boley has completed 7-12 passes for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns. The tight ends have 5 receptions for 89 yards, with Kattus and Rodriguez each picking up a score.

HOLY HIGHLIGHT!

Cutter Boley could’ve thrown it to Willie Rodrigez for an easy 10-yard gain. The quarterback wanted more. He got it with a spectacular 34-yard catch from Josh Kattus.

Another Long EMU Drive Ends with a FG

EMU is getting some aggravating yards. Part of that is because Kentucky is rotating players. The second LBs will be in with the DLs ones and vice versa. Part of that is because this QB is scrambling all over the place. Kentucky has opportunities for big sacks, but can’t get him to the turf. A pass interference penalty assisted EMU on that drive before Kentucky held strong and forced a 37-yard field goal to make it 21-6.

This is Fun!

CUTTER LOOSE!

The Boley effect is real.

On the first snap, Kentucky ran a swing pass to Kendrick Law. It was backwards, so it was technically ruled a run, taking away 16 passing yards from Boley. He made it for it by dropping a 32-yard bomb to Hardley Gilmore. Two plays later, he connected with his roommate, throwing a touchdown to a wide open Willie Rodriguez for the first passing touchdown of the 2025 season.

Kentucky had 3 pass plays of 20+ yards in its first two games. Boley has connected for 3 pass plays of 20+ yards in the first 20 minutes against Eastern Michigan.

Let Ty Loose!

The Kentucky safety hadn’t gotten too many opportunities to actually return a punt this year. He made a man miss and knifed nearly 30 yards down the field through the EMU special teams unit. Ty Bryant’s long return will give Kentucky the ball just 54 yards away from the end zone.

First Quarter Stats

Kentucky leads 14-3 and EMU has the ball on their own 7-yard line to kick off the second quarter.

Laros Shows Off

Hopefully, it’s the first and last time we see the Kentucky punter. Cutter Boley had a pair of passes knocked down, forcing Aidan Laros onto the field. The South African blasted it. It had hangtime, length, and got a generous bounce that went down to the EMU 7-yard line for a 51-yard punt.

Explosive Leads to EMU Points

The Kentucky defense takes pride in preventing big plays. That didn’t happen on the third possession of the game for EMU.

The Eagles outside wide receiver ran a slant. JQ Hardaway covered it, just too much. They ran RB Tavierre Dunlap right behind that route and caught Hardaway sleeping. The short 7-yard swing pass turned into a 39-yard gain. Once again, EMU had nothing going once they got into scoring territory, but this time they settled for a field goal to make it 14-3.

Another One for McGowan!

Seth McGowan has two touchdowns less than 10 minutes into the game. It’s a real shame the books didn’t put out the lines, because they would’ve had to pay me for McGowan 2+ TDs.

It didn’t come easily. They let Boley rip it in this series, and he dialed up a couple of pretty passes to the tight ends. Josh Kattus gained 23 and Willie Rodriguez gained 25 on a third and 19. The Cats got to the 25 and called three shots to the end zone. None connected, but a penalty gave them a chance to hand it off to McGowan who did ’em dirty.

That was an 11-play, 79-yard touchdown-scoring drive that took just over five minutes. That was competent offense, how refreshing?

Fourth Down STUFF!

It wasn’t a great second drive for the Kentucky defense, but the “bend, don’t break” philosophy paid off. Eastern Michigan had chunk plays of 16 and 13 yards to get the ball inside the Kentucky 30-yard line. That’s when the Kentucky run defense woke up. On fourth and 2, the Wildcats stuffed the QB run to keep Eastern Michigan with a goose-egg on the scoreboard.

Seth McGowan Runs Hard

It looked like the Kentucky running back was going to get tackled behind the line of scrimmage. Nope. It looked like he was going to be short of the goal line. Nope.

Touchdown Kentucky, McGowan’s third of the year, giving the Cats a 7-0 lead only 49 seconds into the game.

TIP DRILL!

For the second straight game, Kentucky picked off the first pass of the game. Terhyon Nichols got his hand on the pass, and linebacker Daveren Rayner came down with it, returning the ball to the Eastern Michigan 10-yard line.

A Rowdy Pressbox

There’s no cheering in the pressbox. It’s a rule everywhere, not just Kroger Field. Folks were willing to overlook that when the Tennessee kicker choked. The KSR crew was watching on a delayed iPad when the rest of the media crew erupted in shock. What a shame, a real shame.

More Injury Updates

It appears that cornerback DJ Waller Jr. will his his second straight game. He suffered an undisclosed injury in practice ahead of the Ole Miss game. With a bye week looming, he’ll have a 3-week runway to get healthy prior to the South Carolina game.

DJ Miller was one of Kentucky’s highest-ranked recruits, but the wide receiver suffered an injury late in fall camp. The lengthy pass-catcher appears primed to make his debut Saturday night.

Zach Calzada update

Per Jon Hale, Zach Calzada is on the field but not participating in warmups. Further indication that he will not play today following his shoulder injury last week. Cutter Boley is expected to be the starter, with Beau Allen backing him up.

KSR’s Pregame Walk and Talk

Nick Roush is ready to show you the atmosphere outside Kroger Field. Tap play below to follow along and make sure you’re subscribed ot the KSR YouTube Channel for all of our excellent content.

Scenes from the Cat Walk

It’s a beautiful day at Kroger Field, albeit a little hot. Spirits were high at the Cat Walk, where all eyes were on Cutter Boley ahead of his Kentucky debut. Check out the scene courtesy of Crawford Ifland.

How to Watch

We’re just under two hours from kickoff. Here’s a reminder of how to watch or listen once it’s time.